The Supreme Soviet passed legislation on May 29 allowing wholly foreign-owned companies to operate in the Soviet Union.

The project has been an anomaly in Russia in that it is a wholly foreign-owned venture at a time of rising nationalism over resources.

Nor will licenses for wholly foreign-owned manufacturers be granted based on the level of technology they bring to China.

These include private enterprises, factories, scientific research institutions, wholly foreign-owned enterprises, and foreign trade companies.

The United States says its trade organization agreement with China should permit A.I.G. to continue expanding as a wholly foreign-owned company, which is how it operates now.

In a move virtually unprecedented among Gulf states, the government announced on July 2 that it was amending its trade laws to allow the establishment of wholly foreign-owned companies.

A survey of the 1320 companies registered in Nigeria in 1970 indicated that 400 were wholly foreign-owned, including nearly all of the largest.

Good Connections Other American companies, like 3M and W. R. Grace, have operated wholly foreign-owned ventures in Shanghai without difficulties.

US companies have entered agreements establishing more than 20,000 equity joint ventures, contractual joint ventures, and wholly foreign-owned enterprises in mainland China.

Of the 16 banks operating in Paraguay in 2003, 50 percent were wholly foreign-owned and 25 percent were partially owned by foreign companies.